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A leading Irish civil rights group has expressed serious concerns about the way the gardaí searched a group of students attending a house party in Cork this week without a warrant.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) also raised concerns about the legality of the gardaí confiscating student IDs and handing them over to University College Cork (UCC) authorities.
The Irish Times understands that Gardaí visited a rented property in the Bandon Rd area of the city on two occasions Monday night and Tuesday morning.
A party had also taken place on the same property the night before.
On the first visit last Monday night, tenants were reminded of the Covid-19 regulations and several guests left.
On the second occasion, several hours later, Gardaí entered the house with the permission of the tenants.
According to sources, there were indications of drug use and after some people left the house they were searched on the street outside the house under the Drug Abuse Act.
No drugs were found.
One of the students at the party told the Irish Examiner that gardaí said that body searches were being conducted on the basis that a person had been found in possession of a small amount of drugs in the house the night before.
That person was not believed to be in the house on Monday night.
“Everyone thought we had to let them do this,” said the student. “We don’t even know the guy who was there the night before, but that was the reason given for checking us in. We were all searched in the front garden. There were Gardaí women there to register the girls.
When contacted by The Irish Times the ICCL said it “had serious concerns about reports of house and student searches by the Garda, apparently without a warrant. We wonder what the legal basis for these searches is, ”said spokesman Liam Herrick.
Furthermore, we have serious concerns about this apparent informal gardaí system that confiscates identifications without law or safeguards and passes them on to the UCC. We wonder what is the legal basis for this system. We also wonder if this informal program is limited to Cork and UCC, or if it is happening nationally. How many cases have there been? “
He said that while the ICCL recognized that the university has “a duty to care for students and liaising with gardaí is important, we urge a better approach in consultation with the Student Union.”
According to an agreement in force between the university authorities and Garda IDs can be taken from students and returned to the university along with the reasons for the confiscation. The student can get their ID back after an informal hearing.
A UCC spokesperson confirmed that it had authorized gardaí to request student cards from UCC students “in case they appear to be violating UCC student rules.”
In a statement, gardaí said that the Covid-19 legislation had not given it “additional powers to register a person or enter a private home.”
He added that home parties “have been a long-standing issue that [GARDAÍ ]
We have always policed, in the absence of legal powers, based on our tradition of consent surveillance. When a specific crime is revealed, the corresponding legal legislation will be invoked. “
He said that gardaí in Cork was working closely with university authorities and had a “long-standing local agreement whereby [THEY]they have been authorized by the UCC authorities to request UCC student identification cards ”.
The statement read: “This is not legal. This local agreement has been discussed in the Cork City Joint Police Committee. This agreement is subject to continuous review ”.
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